Back to 70's

Thane cyclone not only caused extensive damages but it made us to travel three decades backwards. The power supply was disturbed in some parts of the city for more than 12 hours. The brunt of the power-cut was not felt in the daytime. However, night time was horrible. Because you ought to live with swarms of mosquitoes. Moreover, no tv, net.  Even cellphone battery got completely down as a result, you were simply cut off from  the outside world.

Good old trandistor came handy. To my knowledge,  I tuned in to all india radio FM frequencies after a gap of (almost )a decade.  Watching a news channel is different from listening to radio news is entirely different. Initially, I was restless (because life without gadgets was a deprivation) but I started enjoying life without gadgets.

Henceforth, I've decided to enjoy life without any gadgets once in a week.

It formed, It crossed and went off

Rain at this time of the year is unusal. Already tanks and lakes are filled to the brim thanks to copious rain from north east monsoon. The thane threatened the city ultimately it crossed between cuddalore and puducherry. ( thane vandhu thanekarai kadandhu thane senru vittadhu) meaning the cyclone formed by itself, it cross the shores by itself and it departed itself.

North tapers,south grows

This is not the slogan raised by any chauvinist programne. A visit to north chennai shows the development index. Traditionally, north chennai houses big industrial plants. Mainly, the plants represent old brick economy. The constant movement of heavy vehicles have made the roads not fit for any transportation.
Just wear a white shirt and visit the industrial belt. Definitely, your shirt will carry all dirt and grime.
The northern part of the city is desperately crying for improvement in infrastructure.
But, the inhabitants have learnt to live with the current situation. What else one can do?

On the contrary, south chennai is perched on a safe zone. The infrastructure is far superior. This part of the city houses all major software companies.

Desire, knowledge & action

To execute any project you need three things they are desire ( not just ordinary but, burning desire) just desire alone can't fulfil it.

After cultivating desire, one must strive hard to gain knowledge about the pursuing project.

Last part is getting into action. This is the execution part. This is how a new project is realised.

Now, coming to mythological part desire is called as itchchaa shakthi.

The knowledge part is described as gnana shakthi.

Action is otherwise known as kriya shakthi.

There are temples named after three shakthis. They are located on the northern and western corner of the chennai city. Namely,melur, thiruvotriyur and thirumulaivayal.

In melur, itchchaa shakthi ---presiding deities are thiruvudai amman and thirumangeeswarar.

In thiruvotriyur, gnana shakthi---- presiding deities are vadivudai amman and thyagaraja swamy.

In thirumullaivayal, kriya shakthi-------presiding deities are kodivudai amman and maasilamanieswarar.

A visit to these temples on a full moon day( that too, if that full moon day falls on a friday its a special one) brings a positive effects to one's life.

All these things are meant for the body of the religion. We have mind of the religion and the soul of the religion.. 

Kolam: A dying art.....

This marghazhi month is special for spiritual practices. When I say spiritual practices, concenration is the key factor. In some practices, they are explicit. 
Kolam(a sort of rangoli) is very special but our "bend it like aunties" cannot bend forward to draw big kolams because they have not seen their toes for years together.
Kolam drawing is a concenration technique. It takes hours together to complete a big kolam. It not only brings out the artistic qualities but also strengthen the mooladara (root centre) and swadhistana (gomad centre) of the human body. Particularly, kolam is drawn in the wee hours of the day.  It is otherwise known as " brahma muharatam".  This time of the day is an ideal period to start practising yogic activities. The presence of kolam enhances the ambience of the house.

To draw kolam rice powder is used because insects feed on them. ( Ecology part is taken careof) Nowadays, synthetic powder is widely used. After drawing the kolam, a pumpkin flower is placed in the middle of  kolam. Actually, cowdung is also placed in the middle of kolam it mainly acts as a "flower holder " to pumpkin flower.

The art of kolam drawing has diminished over the years thanks to the apartment -way- of-life. We've simply pasted kolam stickers in front of our house. All wheather stickers......

Lord Ganesha :Employment Provider

When the worldwide employersu are contemplating jobcuts. Our lord ganesha nicely perched on a pedestal giving employments to atleast 5 persons.

I am talking about roadside pillaiyar temples. These temples have become a hit among the masses. It is a normal practice to place a ganesha idol in front of your house,  if your house is located at the corner of the street.i.e. Your house is thoroughly visible the moment any road user enters the street. Different eyes have different powers. Some are malefic and some are benign in nature. So, in order to neutralise the bad effects ganesha idols at the entrance. Moreover, Lord ganesha is known for trouble shooting abilities.

Sensing this opportunities local "bigwigs" forayed into ganesha project. In many areas of the city lord ganesha is used as a camouflage. Many parts of the city are ilegally encroached by the city dwellers. In order to provide "cover" to their practice a small ganesha temple is erected to hush up the road encroachment.

The hundis of these ganesh temples are filled regularly. Lord ganesh does not see your background whether you are a student, mason, businessman, bootlegger or a lover. Yes!  he really promotes love marriages. (In mythology, lord ganesh helped his younger brother lord muruga's love marriage to valli. Though, he remained an eternal bachelor)

In every assignment lord ganesh is taken as an "indirect partner" that's why he takes his "cut" from the devotees.

Child-like mentality

Your age correlates with your  wisdom. But, not always that is the saddest reality.

On a recent visit to a shiva temple, I came across an elderly man (around 80 year old) with aavin milk sachet. He handed over the milk packet to the temple priest for abhisekham.

The purpose of performing abhisekham is to derive the medicinal properties associated with idols. In olden days, deity idols were consecrated with medicinal properties.In ayurveda and siddha system, milk is used as an anubhaanam. The moment when the milk comes into contact with those idols it brings out the curative powers. But, these days those principles are not followed. Moreover, fresh milk from  cow is usually preferred for abhisekham. Not the sachet milk. The sachet milk comes from "dilli erumai".(buffaloes).

Now coming back to that old man,  though his biological age suggests he is 80+. As far as spirituality is concerned he is still a "umaachi" worshipping toddler.
The religion has three parts namely body of the religion, mind of the religion and the soul of the religion.

As you start the life journey it is okay to associate with body of religion but once you stepped into the mddle age it will be prudent to follow the mind of the religion (cut short your external search for your eternal quest devote more time in "excavating" yourself). In other words, as you get older you should grow spiritually too. Even that has to be stopped after reaching a stage.i.e. One has to merge with the infinite. In that age
one should not obstinate to cling on to the practices associated with the body of the religion. Otherwise, it only reflects the childlike mentality. . . .